Dear friends,
It’s a busy few weeks for us – with our annual Homelessness and Housing Advocacy Days at the state capitol March 7 and 8, and the CCEH Annual Training Institute at the CT Convention Center May 17!
The theme of all this activity: protecting the resources we need to do our work, and embracing the opportunity to keep improving our homelessness response system (learning from each other, ensuring that we employ the best national knowledge in what works to end homelessness.) It’s our shared work in these two, key areas that has carried our efforts so far forward, allowing CT – through your good work – to reduce annual homelessness by more than 1/3 in just five years!
Here’s what we ask of you: please make sure that your Coordinated Access Network turns out in force for Advocacy Days to help us make the case for the resources you need! And as busy as we know you are, please make sure to register for the ATI – learn with us, network with your friends and colleagues!
Many thanks, as always, to each and every one of you for all you do, every day.
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Lisa Tepper Bates
Executive Director
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Housing Advocacy
in Action
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Please make sure to mark your calendar for March 7th & March 8th, the 2018 Homelessness and Housing Advocacy Days
, when advocates representing each of the 8 CAN regions meet with legislators and make our case to preserve, protect, and defend the resources you need to do this important work! A strong turnout by each of our CANs is critical to the success of our efforts.
With the 2018 legislative session well underway, homelessness and housing advocates are stepping up to make the case to preserve our resources. More than 50 providers and advocates have submitted testimony for public budget hearings, and many have come to Hartford to testify in support of investments through the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services and The Department of Housing to end homelessness in Connecticut. Thank you to all who have advocated with us!
Preparing for Advocacy Days
Click
here
for the
Advocacy Days Preparation Webinar
– everything you need to know about Advocacy Days (support and training, overview of issues we’ll be discussing, an update on the legislative session, and tips on helping your clients to effectively tell their story to legislators).
Lydia Brewster, Assistant Director of Community Services at St. Vincent de Paul Middletown, joins us to share useful insights on how best to prepare clients as advocates. If you just have 10 minutes, click
here
to watch Lydia’s presentation “Sharing
the Lived Experience
Story Effectively.”
Click
here
for a link to watch the Budget and Appropriations Process Webinar. Click
here
to view the PDF of the presentation.
Thank you again for your commitment to ending homelessness in Connecticut. Together we are making a concrete difference!!
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CCEH Annual Training Institute May 17
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CCEH’s 16
th
Annual Training Institute (ATI), Connecticut’s premier capacity-building event for organizations working to end homelessness, will take place May 17
th
at the Connecticut Convention Center.
Featured morning speaker Dominque Roe-Sepowitz, Director of the Office of Sex Trafficking Intervention Research at Arizona State University, will share best practices for combatting human trafficking. Our keynote speaker at lunch will be Dr. Dennis Culhane, Director of Research for the VA’s National Center for Homelessness Among Veterans, will share insights gained through national efforts to end veteran homelessness – helping conference participants understand how to apply those lessons to combat homelessness for all clients.
The event includes training and information on best practices, national and state-level policy changes, updates on new work in major partner systems that relates to ending homelessness, and opportunities to network with colleagues.
You can
register now
, or visit
cceh.org/2018ATI
to view all of the information.
We expect this event to sell out again this year, so please register early to make sure you can be there!
Sponsor the ATI
Sponsoring the ATI is a wonderful way to demonstrate your commitment to end
ing
homelessness in Connecticut
!
Please contact Madeline Ravich at
[email protected]
to learn about sponsorship opportunities.
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Together with DOH and 211, CCEH continues to participate in the statewide Hurricane Relief Evacuee Support Planning Work Group. 211 is making every effort to refer Puerto Rican evacuees in need of assistance to disaster case management: our aim is to ensure that Puerto Rican evacuee households facing a housing crisis over the next six months have the assistance they need, and do not need to enter the homeless response system.
At this time, FEMA Transitional Shelter Assistance (TSA) hoteling is scheduled to end March 20. Disaster case management is available across the state to those whose hoteling is ending, or to others who are at risk of imminent homelessness. 211 and CCEH, working together with the United Way of Central and Northeastern CT, have solicited private foundation grants for emergency financial assistance – available through disaster case managers – to help these families develop housing plans and avoid literal homelessness that would force them to seek assistance through our homelessness response system. This emergency funding will be available in Greater Hartford and Easter CT regions of the state March 5, with other regions to follow as funds become available.
If a Puerto Rican evacuee household facing homelessness seeks assistance in your CAN/at your agency:
- Call 211 and press 5 for hurricane evacuee assistance.
- Please track in HMIS any evacuees who present seeking CAN assistance using the special field in the “Basic Demographics” screen.
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Is your organization a member of the Coalition?
CCE
H’s success is linked to the success of all who seek a solution to homelessness in Connecticut, including individuals experiencing homelessness, community providers, public officials, faith-based organizations, businesses, grant-makers, students, activists and others. Member organizations are at the heart of CCEH, and enjoy discounts on trainings and registration for the Annual Training Institute. To become a member, fill out
CCEH’s online membership form
here and submit membership fees via paypal.
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Your Help Needed to Expand
be homeful
Shelter Diversion Funding for Families
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The
be homeful Paddington ambassador program is off to a great start this year! Paddington Ambassadors are children ages 7-14 who shared the values of ending homelessness. Paddington Ambassadors can hold Marmalade drives which helps raise both funds and awareness about ending homelessness here in Connecticut. If your child would like to join CCEH as a Paddington Ambassador please contact Madeline Ravich at
[email protected]
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Upcoming Trainings and Recorded Webinars
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Upcoming Trainings:
DMHAS Brain Injuries Webinar
March 12, 2018
March Shelter Diversion Training
February 5, 2018
CCADV Training - Gales Ferry
March 22, 2018
CCADV Training- Norwalk
March 23, 2018
CCADV Training - Hamden
March 27, 2018
February Recorded Webinars:
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For more information and to learn about all the resources CCEH has to offer please check out
cceh.org.
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